The Martial Unity

He took his seat at the head of the conference table, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the table as his hands came together in a steeple.

“Leaders of government, I am grateful that you have accepted my invitation on such short notice,” he began with a serious expression. “As informed, I called this meeting to solicit all of you to perform the royal coronation ceremony so that I may ascend the throne. It is time for a new emperor to wear the crown, and I believe that that emperor is me. I’m sure many of you have many doubts or questions, and I will endeavor to answer all of them to the best of my ability. Before we begin, I want to clarify, just in case, that you are all completely free to voice your opinions on me and anything relating to me without any fear of punishment. Rest assured that I am not someone who penalizes expression. I do not wish for any of you to hold back due to fear.”

He paused, leaning back, giving the floor to the ministers and high-ranking government officials.

The first to seize the opportunity were those who supported him.

“I, Minister of Domestic Affairs, am willing to coronate you for emperor, Your Highness.” Minister Danes raised his hand.

“As am I, Minister of Maritime Affairs,” Princess Ranea, Minister of Maritime Affairs, added.

“I, too, am willing to crown Your Sagehood as Emperor, Prince Rui.” Princess Ru, Minister of Foreign Affairs, smiled harmoniously.

The other government officials stirred without any hint of surprise. The former two had already announced their support, and Princess Ru had withdrawn her bid for the throne, so it meant that she had accepted Rui’s proposal to become his Ministry of Harmony.

But these were men and women hand-picked by the Emperor of Harmony; they were not so easily moved.

“Your Highness, I wish to bring to your attention a pressing matter and to solicit your opinion on it as a bidder for the throne,” Grand Admiral Falmina Sen Rillonde boomed with a strong tone of voice as she gazed at him with a sharpened expression. “The war has ruined our coastal naval infrastructure and has left our vessels forced to dock in the ports and harbors of our vassal states. Our east-coast defenses are ruined, and it leaves our nation vulnerable to an attack from the East flank. May I inquire how you intend to tackle this problem once you ascend the throne?”

“Of course.” He nodded. “It is one of our most urgent priorities, along with the reconstruction of our destroyed eastern seaboard. There are a number of reconstruction plans thought up by private think tanks in our maritime industry as well numerous development plans provided by a panel of naval infrastructural engineers from the Naval Development Division of our Royal Navy that you command that deploy our latest leaps in high technology. We will implement them as soon as I ascend the throne. Development costs are no problem; the Navy will receive as much funding as required to secure our eastern flank. National security can never be compromised.”

Grand Admiral Falmina’s expression softened at those words as her body language grew less hardened. The older woman did not care much for Rui’s vision of change or law and order over the Martial World or whatever because it didn’t intersect with the Royal Navy much. Even if his response was not comprehensive, it conveyed the correct signals.

“Thank you, Your Highness. Then I, too, will throw in my support for your royal coronation ceremony.”

Rui nodded with appreciation. He had four ministers in the bag and several dozen more left to go.

“Your Highness.” The courteous male voice of the Minister of Finance, Minister Varnen, drew his attention as he raised his hand in the air, drawing Rui’s attention. “Our nation is in an economic crisis at the moment, caused by the destruction of our eastern seaboard. The stock market has fallen by nearly four thousand points; an unprecedented collapse not seen since the inception of the Beast Incursion. The bond yield curve has inverted, and our yield rate on the one-year bond has risen by six percentage points. The Kandrian Ruel Index has plummeted by fifteen points, caused by capital outflows of exiting FPI and a dumping of the Ruel in the forex market. The moving average of seven-day job losses has increased by a whopping 100,000% as countless people have experienced job losses in a very short amount of time.”

Rui did not have any idea what most of that meant, but he got the broader point that the economy had suffered greatly. The Minister Varnen simply threw that out there without asking a question or soliciting an opinion.

He simply sat there with a schooled expression, studying Rui with scrutinizing eyes.

It was a test.

“I’ll be completely honest with you,” Rui remarked with a calm and composed tone. “I don’t understand what that meant.”

The Minister’s elderly eyebrows rose at Rui’s candor.

“But, I get the gist. We have an economic crisis,” Rui continued with a mild tone of voice. “Since you chose not to ask me a question, I’ll ask you: what is the best way to ameliorate and solve this crisis in the short-term and fully heal from it in the long-term?”

A glint of approval radiated from the minister’s mind. “I appreciate that you are willing to admit your ignorance. I appreciate that you are willing to defer to experts. If you had chosen to try and half-ass an answer, I would have chosen to disavow you. Indeed, your father was a maestro who attained expertise in countless fields surrounding politics. But you are not your father. I hope that you will always consult other experts or us you have chosen to accept whenever you make any decision or receive any news.”

“I’m guessing that means you’re willing to support me?” Rui raised an eyebrow.

The Minister of Finance directed a pointed gaze. “If you are willing to stay humble as an inexperienced and direly ignorant ruler, then yes, Your Highness. You will have my support.”

“That was always the plan,” Rui smiled wryly. “I have absolutely no background when it comes to governance and policy, so I will have to rely on all of you to govern this nation effectively.”